Photometry and transit modelling of exoplanet WASP-140b

TL;DR

This study analyzed eleven transit light curves of exoplanet WASP-140b, using new and existing photometry, to investigate transit timing variations and refine physical parameters, confirming previous findings and providing updated measurements.

Contribution

The paper presents new transit observations and applies Bayesian modeling to refine the physical parameters of WASP-140b, with no evidence of transit timing variations.

Findings

No transit timing variations detected.

Estimated planet radius: 1.38 Jupiter radii.

Orbital period: approximately 2.236 days.

Abstract

Eleven transit light curves for the exoplanet WASP-140b were studied with the primary objective to investigate the possibility of transit timing variations (TTVs). Previously unstudied MicroObservatory and Las Cumbres Global Telescope Network photometry were analysed using Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques, including new observations collected by this study of a transit in December 2021. No evidence was found for TTVs. We used two transit models coupled with Bayesian optimization to explore the physical parameters of the system. The radius for WASP-140b was estimated to be $1.38^{+0.18}_{-0.17}$ Jupiter radii, with the planet orbiting its host star in $2.235987 \pm 0.000008$ days at an inclination of $85.75 \pm 0.75$ degrees. The derived parameters are in formal agreement with those in the exoplanet discovery paper of 2016, and somewhat larger than a recent independent study based on photometry by the TESS space telescope.